the irony of it all

After reading Home for eight years, I've begun to find the title of your magazine somewhat ironic. These aren't homes that you feature every week, because it's quite obvious that no one lives there. There's never any sign of human habitation. There's never a toy left on the floor or a book opened on a chair or even a TV or radio. There are no cat hairs on the sofa, no footprints in the hall and no fingerprints on the dooorjambs. The tables are set, but there's no food cooking in the kitchen. Just once, I'd like to see an opened beer can on the coffee table. Who lives in such sterile perfection? Anyone I'd want to know? I find these "homes" very depressing, and each week I'm struck by an overwhelming desire to visit one of them with my 2-year-old son, my husband, our cat, our Yorkie puppy and our two Irish wolfhounds. We wouldn't have to stay very long, but you'd know we'd been there, and these houses would be a lot happier and more homey afterward. Sherry Lee Snider